GB2103571A - Reclaimer - Google Patents

Description

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GB2103 571A 1

SPECIFICATION,

A reclaimer for bulk material

5 This invention relates to apparatus for use in reclaiming bulk material. Bulk material can be of innumerable types and kinds including, for example, coal, slag, taconite, pyrite or iron ore pellets, clay, cinders, crushed marble, gravel, 10 pencil pitch, salt, agricultural lime, carbon black, sand, sawdust, wood chips, wheat, soy beans and other agricultural products. The bulk material, which is stored in piles,

mounds or stacks, is reclaimed from such 15 piles, mounds or stacks and loaded onto railroad cars, trucks, conveyors, boats or other means of transporting the materials in desired quantities from the storage area to another storage area or to a place of use.

20 More particularly, this invention relates to a reclaimer which includes a rotary reclaimer unit, usually operatively connected to transport or conveyor means, which reclaimer unit may be moved back and forth rectilinearly or 25 arcuately to scoop up and discharge to transport or conveyor means bulk material stored in large quantities in piles, mounds or stacks during each of the two directions of travel of the reclaimer unit.

30 During the last hundred years there have been described, for example in U.S. Patent Specifications Nos. 233,523 and 637,716, bulk material reclaimers wherein buckets mounted on chains move in an orbit of travel 35 and scoop bulk material from a pile, mound or stack and discharge the bulk material to a conveyor or chute for transport to a desired location. However, in all these known chain-mounted bucket reclaimers the buckets move 40 in one direction only in the orbit of bucket travel even though the support for the chain-mounted buckets may be moved back and forth along a bulk material storage area in straight or arcuate directions. As a result, the 45 buckets can only reclaim bulk material in the storage area when the bucket support is moved in one direction. Movement of the bucket support in the other direction only permits the storage area to be refilled by a 50 stacker or other bulk material discharge means so that when the bucket support again moves in the one direction it can then reclaim material from the storage area.

Other types of reclaimer are described in 55 U.S. Patent Specifications Nos. 476,616, 3,612,246 and 3,915,268.

According to the present invention there is provided a reclaimer, suitable for reclaiming bulk material from a mound thereof in a 60 storage area, which reclaimer includes: frame means having spaced end support members; a cage extending longitudinally between and supported on said end support members, the cage including at least two track members 65 which are spaced apart and extend around the cage, walls extending between the track members and terminating an opposite sides of the cage in upper edges extending longitudinally of the cage and baffle plates extending down-70 wardly and inwardly longitudinally of the cage from said walls; and endless conveyor extending within and longitudinally of the cage below the baffle plates from one end of the cage to a conveyor discharge at the other end of 75 the cage; a chain extending along each track member for movement in a path of travel along said track member; means for moving said chains in either direction in said path of travel; a series of spaced apart buckets each 80 pivotally mounted on said chains; means for releasing material from each bucket as it moves upward along one side of the cage past an upper edge of a wall; and means for moving the frame means and the cage in 85 either direction laterally with respect to the length of the cage.

Bulk materials are handled in varying quantities. Sometimes their production or supply is greater in amount and rate of delivery from a 90 source than the particular material can be loaded onto transport devices such as railroads cars, ships, trucks and the like for ultimate delivery to a distribution location or place of use. At other installations delivery of 95 the bulk material either from a source or an intermediate processing facility is in quantities much less than those required economically to load the material onto transportation means such as a 100-car train for delivery to a place 100 of use.

These limitations in the handling of bulk material require the bulk material during handling to be stored in large storage areas. A store of bulk material is, in effect, a surge 105 accumulation of the material for delivery to and withdrawal from storage at different rates of delivery either greater than or less than the rates of withdrawal from the stacks, piles or mounds of stored material. For example, a 110 coal mine operated continuously may produce coal at a certain rate which is then delivered to a wash plant for processing, the capacity of the wash plant being such as to handle say 350 tons per hour of washed coal. The 115 washed coal, however, must be accumulated in a storage area until more than 10,000 tons is available for rapid loading into a 100-car freight train since it is not economical to have a railroad deliver 100 cars to be loaded 120 unless they all can be loaded rapidly in a short period of time. Otherwise, large payments must be made to the railroad for the cars held on sidings waiting to be loaded from time to time and not immediately and com-125 pletely.

Another example is the operation of a treatment plant which must be supplied continuously with the bulk material for treatment in large quantities at an even or fixed rate. Thus, 130 a storage area for bulk material must be

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provided having extremely large quantities of the bulk material from which the material is reclaimed to supply continuiusly the treatment plant.

5 In other instances, bulk material, constituting the input for a storage area, may arrive in much larger quantities or more rapidly than such material is withdrawn from storage.

further, the bulk material msy arrive at 1 0 storage areas in large dump-truckloads, while reclaiming the material from other storage areas is proceeding and should proceed continuously at a fixed rate stored material and additional materials dumped, during reverse 1 5 movement of the reclaimer device.

Accordingly, from the standpoint of economical operation, a reclaimer can be used under all of the varying conditions described for handling bulk material so that the re-20 ciaimer, when operating, may be operated continuously in any direction of its movement whether forward or rearward from any particular location either straight-away or in an arcuate path at bulk material storage areas. 25 For a better understanding of the invention, and to show more clearly how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings in which similar reference 30 numerals refer to similar parts throughout the various figures of the drawings and in which:

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a storage area for bulk material illustrating a reclaimer of the invention installed as a 35 component of an otherwise typical bulk handling transport equipment;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of another form of bulk material handling and transport equipment in which a reclaimer of 40 the invention is installed as a part of the equipment;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a bulk material storage area in connection with which a reclaimer of the invention is 45 illustrated for reclaiming bulk material stored in a rectangular storage area;

Figure 4 is a sectional view looking axially into a reclaimer mounted on a movable truck platform adapted to reclaim bulk material 50 from the type of installation illustrated in Fig. 3;

Figure 5 is a side elevation, with parts broken away in the central portion of the view, looking in the direction of the arrows 55 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Figure 6 is a sectional view, similar to portions of Fig. 4, showing a modified orbit of travel for the reclaimer buckets around a reclaimer support cage;

60 Figure 7 is a substantially enlarged fragmentary sectional view with parts broken away looking toward the end of the bucket shown on the right-hand side of Fig. 6;

Figure 8 is a fragmantary sectional view of 65 the parts shown in Fig. 7 looking in the direction of the arrows 8-8 of Fig. 7;

Figure 9 is a view, similar to Figs. 4 and 6, illustrating another form of the path of orbital bucket travel;

Figure 9A is a section on lines 9A-9A of Fig. 9;

Figure 10 is a view, similar to Figs. 4, 6 and 9, illustrating a construction similar to that shown in Fig. 6 but equipped with a modified form of bucket;

Figure 11 is a fragmentary view, similar to a portion of Fig. 10, illustrating a still further modified shape of bucket; and

Figure 12 is an enlarged fragmentary view looking in the direction of the arrows 12-12 of Fig. 10.

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 diagrammatically illustrate several bulk material handling and storage installations wherein a reclaimer generally indicated at 1 forms a part or component of the handling equipment.

Fig. 1 shows a large storage yard for coal that has been delivered from and continues to be delivered from a wash plant. Thousands of tons of coal are accumulated in a stack at 2 prior to handling the same into, say a 100-car train indicated a 3. The reclaimer 1 discharges the coal to a conveyor 4 which delivers the coal to a stacker conveyor or loader 5 that discharges the coal to the railroad cars 3. The coal delivered from the stack 2 by reclaimer 1 is joined at junction 6 by coal delivered from the wash plant by conveyor 7. After the cars 3 have been loaded, coal from the wash plant may be stored in the depleted storage areas in any suitable manner either by the stacker 5 or by a second stacker and other additional means (not shown) so that a quantity of coal is available for reverse movement of the reclaimer 1.

In Fig. 2, another sweep type operation is carried out by reclaimer 1 which moves against a stack 8 of bulk material when moving in the direction of the arrow 9 against the end of the stacked material. The reclaimer 1 delivers the material through a conveyor 10 to a hopper 11 which feeds a conveyor 1 2 which discharges onto any convenient mode of transportation for the material to a place of use. Meanwhile bulk material is delivered by trucks to the empty storage area 1 3 behind the reclaimer 1 so that when movement of the reclaimer 1 is in a direction opposite to the direction of the arrow 9, bulk material is reclaimed during reverse movement of the reclaimer 1.

Fig. 3 shows rectangular storage areas side by side. Bulk material is delivered by a conveyor (not shown) to a stacker 14 which discharges the material into piles 1 5 in rectangular storage areas 16 and 17. Reclaimer 1 for each area 1 6 and 1 7 moves back and forth in its respective area, rectilinearly, to reclaim the stored material in stacks 1 5 and discharge the same to a delivery conveyor 1 8

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which conveys the reclaimed material to other transport means such as a ship, a railroad car, a truck or the like.

One embodiment of the reclaimer 1 is 5 shown in more detail in Figs. 4 and 5. The reclaimer 1 is mounted on a carriage including beam frame members 19 movable on wheels 20 which may travel along rails 21. Wheel-supported frame members 19 are pro-10 vided at each end of the reclaimer 1 which has upright frame members 22 connected by suitable means to the ends of a reclaimer cage generally indicated at 23. The cage 23 is formed from a series of spaced peripheral 15 channel shaped ribs generally indicated at 24 which form track members to be described later in connection with Figs. 7 and 8.

Figs. 7 and 8 primarily illustrate details of the construction of the buckets shown in Figs 20 4, 5, 6 and 9, as well as the pivotal mounting of the buckets on the chains which move the buckets peripherally around the reclaimer cages. Although Figs. 7 and 8 show straight sections of channel ribs 24 similar to a por-25 tion of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 6, the construction is the same throughout curved portions of circular channel rib 24 shown in Fig. 4, as in the straight and lower semi-circular portion of the channel rib shown 30 in Fig. 6.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the channel shaped ribs are circular in extent forming an endless outwardly opening track to be further described in detail 35 below. Four ribs 24 are illustrated in Fig. 5 and one series of buckets, generally indicated at 25, is mounted in a manner described below extending between the right-hand pair of ribs, and another series of buckets is 40 mounted on the left-hand pair of ribs 24

illustrated in Fig. 5. As shown in Fig. 4 there are four buckets 25 in each series of buckets.

For ease of illustration, only two complete sets, or series, of buckets are shown in Fig. 5, 45 these being located at the right-hand ends of the cage 25. The cage 25 may have any desired or required axial length, and accordingly any desired number of sets or series of buckets may be contained in any reclaimer, 50 there being five sets of buckets shown, for example, in Fig. 2. In Fig. 5, the central portion of the cage is shown broken sway to show the ends only of the sets of buckets connected to those illustrated at the ends of 55 the cage. The circumferential or peripheral location of the buckets 25 is staggered between adjacent sets of buckets. This can be seen from the reclaimer 1 illusrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. More particularly, it is shown by the 60 location of the buckets 25a and 25b in Fig. 5 which are adjacent to and staggered with respect to the buckets 25 of the two series of buckets shown at the ends of the reclaimer cage 23.

65 A curved, metal cage wall 26 is connected to and extends between each pair of ribs 24 throughout the length of the cage 23 to form a troughlike bottom wall for the cage 23 throughout its length. The curved cage wall 70 26 terminates in upper edges 27 and baffle plates 28 extend downwardly inward towards the central axis of the cage throughout the length of the cage.

An endless belt conveyor, indicated gener-75 ally at 29, is mounted within the cage 23 and extends from the outer or right-hand end of the cage (as viewed in Figs. 2 and 3) towards the inner or left-hand end of the cage where it is connected with or communicates with a belt 80 delivery or discharge conveyor such as the conveyors 4 and 10, respectively, shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

A bucket drive shaft 30 is journaled in bushing blocks or housings 31 and extends 85 the complete length of the reclaimer 1. There is a bushing block 31 located below and mounted on the top portion of each channel rib 24 and within the bushing block or housing a sprocket 32 is mounted on the shaft 30. 90 The left-hand end of the shaft 30 is connected with drive means indicated at 33 connected to a drive motor diagrammatically indicated at

34 for rotating the shaft 30 in one direction or another.

95 The reclaimer 1 may have a drive motor for driving the carriage wheels 20 to move the reclaimer bodily in either direction along the rails 21.

As indicated in Fig. 5, the beam frame 100 members 19 may have cross-beam sections

35 mounted thereon on which the upright frame members 22 are mounted. The upright frame members 22 and cross-beam sections 35 are each connected by welding to the

105 channel ribs 24 at the ends of the cage 25 to support the cage on the frame members 1 9 which, as previously stated, are supported by the wheels 20.

An endless chain 36 is mounted in each 110 channel rib 24 (Figs. 7 and 8). A bucket pivot shaft 37 is fixed at each end to a sleeve 38 (Fig. 8). Each sleeve has a pair or lugs 39 projecting therefrom which are welded to and extend outward from links 40 of the chain 35 11 5 at the desired location for one of the buckets in the series or set of buckets mounted on a spaced pair of adjacent channel ribs. The bucket pivot shafts 37 do not rotate but are carried in a path of travel by the chains as the 120 chains are moved around the channel ribs 24 in either direction by sprockets 32 which in turn are driven by the bucket drive motor 34. Each bucket 25 has a part-circular shaped bucket scoop wall 41 the end of which are 1 25 closed by arcuate, end walls 42. At the apex of the arcuate, end walls 42 bushing sleeves 43 are welded exteriorly to the end walls 42 to journal the bucket pivotally on the pivot shaft 37. A scooped-material-reclaimer plate 130 44 also is pivotally mounted on the shaft 37

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and extends between the bucket end walls 42.

A friction-reducing rub strip 45 held on a retainer 46 is mounted on curved cage wall 5 portions 26 laterally adjacent each edge of each channel rib 24 as shown in Fig. 8. The rub strips 45 are formed of a polyethylene, a nylon, or some similar friction-reducing material and terminate at the free edges 27 of 10 the curved cage walls 26.

As long as the buckets travel in their path of travel adjacent the cage wall 26, the corners of the swinging free edge of the retainer plate 44 slide along the rubstrips 45 to hold 1 5 the retainer plates 44 in a position closing buckets 25. The swinging retainer plate 44 of any bucket thus holds bulk material scooped by the bucket in the bucket during upward movement of the bucket in either direction of 20 bucket travel with movement of the endless chains 36.

Referring to Fig. 4, assuming that the chains and buckets are being driven in a counterclockwise direction around the retainer 25 cage, one of the buckets, such as the lower right-hand bucket in Fig. 4, scoops bulk material from a mound thereof indicated in dotted lines at 48, the bulk material being held in the bucket by the retainer plate 44. As 30 the bucket moves upwards and reaches the position shown by the upper right-hand bucket in Fig. 4, the retainer plate 44 is released from the rub strips 45 and swings open, as shown, as a result of which the bulk 35 material in the bucket 25 is dumped along the baffle plate 28 and is deposited on the belt conveyor 29 and carried thereby to the discharge end of the conveyor 29.

An angle bracket 49 projects outwardly 40 from the bucket end plates 42 adjacent each corner of each end plate adjacent the free edges of the curved bucket scoop wall 41 (Figs. 5, 7 and 8). One pair of the brackets 49 to engage the chains 36 at each end of 45 each bucket to hold the buckets outside of the chains and cage as the buckets move across the top portion of the cage channel ribs 24. Under these conditions there is no relative movement between the buckets and chains 50 and, thus, no rubbing friction therebetween.

In the operation of any of the reclaimers 1 described in any one of the figures of the drawings, any buckets in any series of buckets pivotally mounted at spaced intervals on a 55 pair of chains which surround the cage is movable in an endless path of travel in either direction around the periphery of the cage.

This bucket movement is present with any bucket in any of the multiple series of buckets 60 supported on the cage wherein the buckets in one series are staggered in peripheral locations with respect to buckets in an adjacent series.

The bucket mounting chains are guided in 65 paths which extend endlessly around the periphery of the cage. In its orbit of movement any bucket travels from the bottom or lower portion of the cage upward along one side of the cage to the top of the cage and then down the other side of the cage to the bottom of the cage.

Figs. 7 and 8 primarily illustrate details of construction of the buckets shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 9, as well as the pivotal mounting of the buckets on the chains which move the buckets peripherally around the reclaimer cages. Although Figs 7 and 8 show straight sections of channel ribs 24 similar to a portion of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 6, the construction is the same throughout curved portions of the circular channel rib 24 shown in Fig. 4, as in the straight and lower semicircular portion of the channel rib shown in Fig. 6.

Thus, in the operation of a reclaimer, as the buckets move around the lower portions of their paths of travel on the cage and as the cage is moved bodily toward stacked bulk material, the buckets dig, chew or bite into the stacked bulk material and scoop portions thereof into the buckets. When the buckets reach the upper portions of their orbits of travel the bucket contents are dumped to the interior of the cage and flow onto the belt conveyor in the cage.

Such operation proceeds as described regardless of the direction of orbital travel of the chains and buckets. Travel of the chains in either direction is obtained merely by the use of reversible motor means diagrammatically indicated at 34.

During such an operation, as the reclaimer 1 approaches one end or the other of an accumulation or stack of bulk material in a storage area, the direction of movement of the reclaimer is reversed and at the same time the direction of movement of the endless chains 36 is reversed and the buckets then proceed to scoop up bulk material which meanwhile has been delivered to the storage area during the time when the reclaimer travelled in the original or first direction described.

This reverse movement function of the reclaimer back and forth along and through bulk material accompanied by reverse bucket movement on the reclaimer cage permits con-tiuous discharge of bulk material to the belt conveyor 29. Such procedure in the operation of the reclaimer equipment eliminates delays involved in the use of prior art devices or eliminate j the requirement of a surge tank hopper into which the belt conveyor 29 discharges bulk material. Such a surge tank hopper heretofore has been required to bridge the intermittent operation of a reclaimer having buckets which travel in one direction only.

The concepts of construction and operation of the reclaimer with productive multidirectional movement of the reclaimer cage and with multidirectional movement of buckets on

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the cage, simplify bulk material handling and reclaiming operations with equipment which may be easily installed in existing systems to provide a simple energy-efficient installation.

5 The construction and operation of the reclaimer generally indicated at 50 in Fig. 6 is identical with the construction and operation of the reclaimer 1 described in connection with Figs. 4, 5, 7 and 8 excepting that the 10 cage 51 and its components have an upright oval shape in cross section with vertical upright track portions 52 joined with the upper and lower semicircular track portions 53 and 54, the semicircular track portions 53 and 54 1 5 being the same as the corresponding semicircular portions of the device shown in Fig. 4.

Thus, the cage os reclaimer 50 is somewhat larger and taller and provides for readily mounting a greater number of buckets, if 20 desired, than the number of buckets shown in Fig. 4, The differences in size and number of buckets results from the design requirements for reclaimers handling different kinds of bulk material.

25 As previously indicated, Figs. 7 and 8 show details of the chains, buckets and bucket retainers present in the reclaimer 50.

The reclaimer 55 illustrated in Fig. 9 is similar to the reclaimer 1 and 50 shown in 30 Figs. 4 and 6, respectively, except for the cross-sectional shape of the cage which has a teardrop form. The lower portion 56 of the teardrop-shaped cage of reclaimer 55 as well as the chains 36 and buckets 25 and bucket 35 retainer plates 44 are similar to corresponding components of the reclaimer 1 of Fig. 4 and the reclaimer 50 of Fig. 6.

However, in Fig. 9, the channel ribs 24 terminate on each side at the baffles 28 and 40 are replaced by straight inwardly opening channel-shaped cage frame and track members 57 which meet at and are connected with apex frame plates 58. The chains 36 in their movement are supported by the frame 45 and track members 57. Channel rib sections 24-1 are mounted on the apex plates 58 and resume the track support for the chains 36 as the chains travel around the bushing blocks 31-1 which journal sprockets 32-1 that are 50 mounted on bucket drive shaft 30-1 driven by a reversible drive motor such as diagram-matically indicated at 34 in Fig. 5.

The operation, as stated, of the reclaimer 55 of Fig. 9 otherwise is the same as that of 55 the reclaimers shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 6.

Reclaimer 59 shown in Figs. 10 and 12 is similar, having an oval-shaped cage, to the reclaimer 50 shown in Fig. 6. The construction and operation of reclaimer 59 differs from 60 that of the reclaimer 50 of Fig. 6 in that the buckets 60 have a slightly different construction. The retainer plates 44 for the buckets 25 in Fig. 6 are omitted, and preferably a trigger mechanism is provided for tilting the buckets 65 60 as they ascend from the lower to the upper portion of reclaimer cage 61. Each bucket 60 is generally scoop-shaped but has a central fixed internal dividing wall 62 which cuts the bucket capacity in half as compared with buckets of Fig. 6. The buckets 60 are journaled on a bucket pivot shaft 63 (Fig. 12), the shaft 63 being fixed at its ends to sleeves 64 mounted on chain links of the chain 65 in a manner similar to that drescribed in connection with Fig. 8. The end walls 66 of the buckets 60 are angled inwardly towards the apices thereof where they are journaled on the shaft 63 so that the edges 67 of the curved or scoop wall of the buckets extend laterally beyond the ends of the shaft 63 so as to rest on the chain 65 during movement in the path of travel of the chains 65. Thus, there is no relative movement between the buckets and chains when engaged. However, polyethylene rub strips 63 preferably are provided within the cage rib channels 69.

L-shaped bucket-dump-trigggers 70 are pivotally mounted on the rib channels 69 above the baffles 28. As a bucket moves upward on the right side of the device as shown in Fig. 10, the short leg 71 of the trigger 70 is engaged by the bucket, and continued bucket movement pivots the trigger to the dot-dash position of Fig. 10 so that the long leg 72 of the trigger 70 tips the bucket to the dot-dash position shown, thereby emptying the bulk material in the upper half of the ascending bucket.

The trigger 70 on the left-hand portion of Fig. 10 functions in the same manner when the buckets are moving in a clockwise direction around the reclaimer cage.

A fifth embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 11 which differs from the construction of Fig. 10 only in that buckets 73 have, when viewed laterally a V-shaped rather than the part-circular shape for the scoop wall of the bucket shown in Fig. 10.

Each of the reclaimers described above operates in the same manner in performing a reclaiming procedure in that any bucket in any series of buckets pivotally mounted on a pair of chains which surround a cage is movable in an endless path or travel in either direction around the periphery of the cage. Such bucket movement is present with any bucket in any of the multiple series of buckets supported on the cage, the buckets in any one series being staggered in peripheral locations with respect to buckets in an adjacent series.

The multidirectional movement of the reclaimer cage and the multidirectional movement of the buckets arranged in a plurality of series of buckets along the length of the cage, with the buckets moving in an endless path of travel in either direction around the cage, provides for rapid, efficient and productive operation of the reclaimer. At the same time, movement of the buckets on a reclaimer so constructed and operated coordinates and cor70

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relates the attack of the buckets in moving into and scooping into stacked bulk material that degradation of the bulk material is minimized.

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Claims (14)

CLAIMS:

1. A reclaimer, suitable for reclaiming bulk material from a mound thereof in a storage area, which reclaimer includes: frame means

10 having spaced end support members; a cage extendiing longitudinally between and supported on said end support members, the cage including at least two track members which are spaced apart and extend around the 15 cage, walls extending between the track members and terminating on opposite sides of the cage in upper edges extending longitudinally of the cage, and baffle plates extending downwardly and inwardly longitudinally of the cage 20 from said walls; an endless conveyor extending within and longitudinally of the cage below the baffle plates from one end of the cage to a conveyor discharge at the other end of the cage; a chain extending along each track 25 member for movement in a path of travel along said track member; means for moving said chains in either direction in said path of travel; a series of spaced apart buckets each pivotally mounted on said chains; means for 30 releasing material from each bucket as it moves upward along one side of the cage past an upper edge of a wall; and means for moving the frame means and the cage in either direction laterally with respect to the 35 length of the cage.

2. A reclaimer as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said track members are formed, at least in part, by channel ribs opening outwardly and extending around at least the

40 lower portion of the cage.

3. A reclaimer as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein there are three or more track members extending around the cage with a series of buckets being pivotally mounted on each

45 pair of adjacent chains.

4. A reclaimer as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the buckets in one series of buckets are mounted in staggered relationship with respect to the buckets in the next adjacent

50 series of buckets.

5. A reclaimer as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein each bucket includes a scoop wall extending longitudinally of the cage and sector-like end walls each having a

55 apex portion, the apex portion being pivotally mounted on a pivot shaft the ends of which are connected to lugs mounted on and projecting from chain links of the chains between which the bucket extends. 60

6. A reclaimer as claimed in Claim 5, in which the bucket scoop wall is curved arcu-ately in cross-section.

7. A reclaimer as claimed in Claim 5, in which the bucket scoop wall is V-shaped in 65 cross-section.

8. A reclaimer as claimed in Claim 5, 6 or 7, in which the scoop wall terminates in longitudinally extending edges; in which each end wall has a portion angled inwardly from the ends of said longitudinally-extending edges; and in which said inwardly-angled end wall portion at the end of one of the bucket edges engages the adjacent chain on which the bucket is pivotally mounted during at least a portion of bucket movement in its path of travel.

9. A reclaimer as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 8, wherein a bushing block is mounted within the cage on a top portion of each of the track members; wherein a chain drive shaft is journalled in said bushing blocks extending longitudinally of the cage from end to end; wherein a sproket is mounted on said drive shaft within each bushing block in driving engagement with the chain extending along the track member on which such bushing block for the sproket engaged with said chain is mounted; and wherein reversible drive motor means is operarively connected with said shaft, thereby providing means for moving said chains in either direction in their path of travel.

10. A reclaimer as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 9 wherein the means for releasing material scooped by the buckets from each bucket as it moves upward along one side of the cage includes a scooped-material-retainer plate, said retainer plate being pivotally mounted on the bucket pivot shaft and having a swinging edge adapted to swing along and out of the concave bucket scoop wall during bucket movement in its path of travel; friction-reducing rub strips mounted on the cage walls adjacent the track members, said rub strips extending between the upper edges of the cage walls; wherein the swinging edge of the retainer plate of any bucket rides on said rub strips as a bucket moves upward in its path of travel along one side of the cage to retain bulk material scoped during such upward movement, and said retainer plate is released from the rub strips to release bulk material in the bucket into the cage and onto a cage baffle plate as such bucket moves upward beyond a cage wall upper edge.

11. A reclaimer as claimed in any one of Claims 6 to 10 when appendant to Claim 5, wherein the scoop wall terminates in longitudinally extending edges; wherein the means for releasing material from each bucket as it moves u[ ward along one side of the cage comprises a central partition wall fixed to the bucket and end walls intermediate the bucket scoop wall edges; wherein trigger means is mounted on the track members above each end of each cage wall upper edge; and wherein said trigger means engages each bucket during bucket movement in its path of travel as such bucket moves upward beyond said cage wall upper edge and pivots said

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bucket over centre on its pivot shaft to release material in the bucket into the cage and onto a cage baffle plate.

12. A reclaimer as claimed in Claim 11 in 5 which the trigger means comprises an L-

shaped member having first and second legs pivotally mounted on a track member; in which the first leg normally projects into the path of the bucket travel and is engaged by 10 an upwardly moving bucket; and in which the second leg then pushes the bucket pivotally over centre as the bucket continues upward movement towards the top of the cage to release material in the bucket into the cage 15 onto a cage baffle plate.

13. A reclaimer as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 12, wherein the frame means includes main beam members at each end of the cage extending laterally of the cage be-

20 tween first and second ends from which spaced upright beam end support members extend upward adjacent the sides of each end of the cage; in which crossbeam members extend longitudinally of the cage along each 25 side of the cage supported at their ends on said main beam members; in which wheel means are mounted on said frame means at each end of each main beam member, whereby the frame means and cage may be 30 moved in either direction toward a selected stored mound of stacked bulk material; and in which motive means are mounted on the frame means for moving the frame means on said wheel means in either direction. 35

14. A reclaimer substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Burgess & Son (Abingdon) Ltd.—1983.

Published at The Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings,

London, WC2A 1AY, from which copies may be obtained.